Simone Suzanne Kussatz was born in Germany and has lived in the United States, China, and France. She studied at Santa Monica College, UCLA, and the Free University of Berlin, and completed an internship at the American Academy in Berlin, assisting the Berlin Prize Fellows in 2000. She holds a Master’s degree in American Studies, Journalism, and Psychology, and worked as a freelance art critic in Los Angeles. Her deep interest in World War II history is informed by her family’s experiences of displacement and survival, her father’s escape from Berlin-Köpenick in 1955 before the construction of the Berlin Wall, and her late brother’s intellectual disability and epilepsy, which have given her a unique perspective on life. A former member of the Los Angeles Press Club, she is currently a member of the International Association of Art Critics (AICA).
